Austin Startup

SEPTEMBER 29, 2018

In totality, these posts are at least as long as most business books. This series/ebook will be at least 20 posts long, and I’ll add some commentary on how I’ve personally applied the lesson on my sixth startup, data.world, to bring them “up to date”. business model and team. I could write a book on this post alone.

Bootstrapping 52

Bootstrapping IPO Business Model Software Review 52

Up and Running

APRIL 4, 2022

Have you been wondering how you can start a business with no money or experience? Many people, just like you, dream of getting into the self-employment world by owning a business. Where most people lose interest is when they realize that it takes money to start a business. How to start a small business with no money 1.

Social Media 156

Social Media SBA Media Metrics 156

OnlyOnce

JULY 9, 2013

My book, Startup CEO: A Field Guide to Scaling Up Your Business , is now available for pre-order on Amazon in multiple formats ( Print , Kindle ), which is an exciting milestone in this project! Writing a book is a LOT harder than I expected! When I get closer in, I may publish some excerpts of new content here on Only Once.

Startup 95

Startup Advisory Board Elevator Pitch Forecast 95

Austin Startup

APRIL 27, 2019

In totality, these posts are at least as long as most business books. This series/ebook will be at least 20 posts long, and I’ll add some commentary on how I’ve personally applied the lesson on my sixth startup, data.world, to bring them “up to date”. I didn’t start my first business until I was 24 and earning my MBA.

B2C 51

B2C Austin Cofounder IPO 51

Sophia Perl of Wisdom

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

So how does a former Apple Final Cut Pro developer start a blogging website? This came about because he didn’t know how to set up an email server. He didn’t want (or maybe didn’t know how) to create a registration page. Tip: Monitor how your users interact with your product.

API 58

API Mobile Email Web 58

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 1, 2018

The ideal candidate for a product management role is “a technologist who got tired of being a technologist who wants to solve a business problem through a feature or a product.” A PM basically sits at the center of UX, technology and business. You may have heard the quote: ‘The PM is the CEO of their product.’

Management 85

Management Product Technical Review Software Review 85

Duct Tape Marketing

JULY 26, 2018

He actually has a new venture called SparkToro , which we’ll touch on today. John Jantsch: I’ve been coaching a lot of business owners that I think there’s a element of SEO that needs to be much more strategic. John Jantsch: Isn’t that every business? This is John Jantsch. My guest today is Rand Fishkin.

Silicon Valley 33

Silicon Valley SEO Startup Technical Review 33

The Equity Kicker

JANUARY 18, 2013

If you’ve been paying attention you will know that Nicholas Lovell and I are writing a book for entrepreneurs who want to raise venture capital. The idea is that these two opening sections will illustrate the fundraising problems we are seeking to alleviate and show that we have some good content to offer.

Liquidation Preference 159

Liquidation Preference Venture Capital Dilution Video 159

www.inc.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

Small Business Success | Mondays and Thursdays. The Goods: Your Business Toolbox | Thursdays. Todays Small Business News | Daily. Writing A Business Plan. Running A Home-Based Business. Naming a Business. How to Incorporate. Financing a Small Business. Buying a Small Business.

Fractional CTO 40

Fractional CTO Equity Iowa Technical Cofounder 40

David Teten

NOVEMBER 18, 2019

Here’s how to replicate a banker, even if you don’t have any relationships with potential investors: Hire a consultant to make your deck persuasive, thorough, and attractive, and your data room professional. Some suggested consultants and guidelines here: Please don’t pitch a venture capitalist without this checklist.

Investment Bankers 60

Investment Bankers Database Private Equity SEC 60

Altgate

SEPTEMBER 16, 2010

But did you know that founder Markus Frind has just 3 employees for his $10MM+ revenue business? How do you decide what to outsource though and what to do internally with your own team? Since every business is slightly different the functions and whether to outsource will be different for each. So it can be done.

Software Review 65

Software Review Offshore Startup Boston 65

www.drowningamerican.com

JUNE 22, 2012

Skip to primary content. Skip to secondary content. Next → How to Hire for Sweat Equity…. The business plan was starting to look great and all the idea kinks were worked out. We have a myriad of connections to local Venture Capital firms, entrepreneurs, CEOs, and many other important individuals.

Sweat Equity 40

Sweat Equity Equity Hiring Technical Review 40

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 20, 2015

There’s no greater feeling in business than building a successful company from scratch, especially when you do it by yourself. We’ve all had a fantastic business idea at one stage or another. If you’ve dreamed about building a successful business, now is the time. And here’s how: Funding. But you still need some capital.

Early Stage 100

Early Stage Internet Social Media Hiring 100

Up and Running

MAY 23, 2016

Step 1: Start with a lean plan. Instead of sitting down to write a 40-page business plan, start with a one-page pitch. It’s the fastest way to get your idea onto paper, and it’s the very first step in the lean planning process, which is much easier and more iterative than traditional business planning methods.

Software Review 74

Software Review Software Delaware Forecast 74

crowdSPRING Blog

FEBRUARY 11, 2019

Admit it – you’ve thought about starting your own consulting business. If you’re like many would-be consultants, you’re just not sure how to get started. Navigating the transition between a salaried employee and running your own consulting business can be tricky. How do I market my consulting business?

Small Business Administration 86

Small Business Administration Small Business Social Media Elevator Pitch 86

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 1, 2010

I continue to collect great content that is the intersection of startups, products, online and technology. How to Take Down Facebook -- Hint: It Ain't Twitter. But I didn’t write it for you; I wrote it for myself. Surprisingly, I was thinking the same thing today about user-generated content, which basically check-in's are too.

Technical Review 175

Technical Review Technology Product CTO Hire 175

Startup Lessons Learned

MAY 15, 2020

In his view, "It's never selfish to keep your company in business. Consumers, particularly Gen Z and millennials, are becoming more used to looking for a social component from the companies that they do business with. Now going forward, those same people are going to look to see how you treated your employees.

Dallas 68

Dallas Employee Government Social Media 68

Steve Blank

AUGUST 27, 2009

This series of posts is a brief explanation of how we’ve evolved from Product Development to Customer Development to the Lean Startup. It was adopted by the consumer packaged goods industry in the 1950s and spread to the technology business in the last quarter of the twentieth century.

Silicon Valley 260

Silicon Valley Product Startup Product Development 260

Professor VC

NOVEMBER 19, 2009

I attended the annual LP meeting for a venture capital firm this week and got into a discussion about the above question. The seminar course combined an internship at a start-up or venture firm with classroom learning and sharing of experiences. Business, Engineering, Computer Science, and Design were all represented.

San Jose 43

San Jose Silicon Valley Las Vegas Venture Capital 43

Up and Running

MARCH 27, 2015

In the business world, angel investors are sometimes equated with actual angels, sent to help us fund what could not otherwise be funded. Whatever it is, the processes these investors use to determine “fundability” remain a bit of a mystery, a sort of deus ex machina of business. Planning, Startups, and Stories.

Angel Investor 60

Angel Investor Dallas United States Cofounder 60

Hunter Walker

NOVEMBER 16, 2020

So I recently re-shared a 2019 blog post where I’d basically advised founders who’ve raised seed capital to worry less about “how will I raise the next round” and more about “how will I execute my plan?” Have they definitely de-risked every part of their business? Not a chance. HW: All fair points.

Founder 124

Founder Cofounder Metrics Technical Review 124

venturebeat.com

MARCH 8, 2011

You can’t answer emails during normal business hours. Embrace slow growth – We all have dreams of stratospheric growth, but it’s not a “plan,&# especially not for a business you’re running in your spare time. Write a simple document explaining what you’re doing. This is not a bad thing.

Software Review 41

Software Review Startup Technical Review Mobile 41

ConversionXL

JANUARY 16, 2019

Those brands, in turn, have nurtured and sustained the intellectual capital of the phrase. So how do you create one? Reverse engineering the origins of brand-owned terms is not a breakdown of the step-by-step planning that led from term identification to widespread acceptance. More than just ‘Content Marketing.’”.

Naming 119

Naming Conversion Flash Cofounder 119

ConversionXL

JULY 29, 2015

How to get more funding? I scoured the academic research on crowdfunding, philanthropy, and helping behavior to understand when and why people donate money (and how you can use those principles in a crowdfunding campaign). Specify how much money will be attributed to each aspect of your project. So there are unknown variables.

Campaign 48

Campaign Reputation Metrics Naming 48

www.instigatorblog.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

Changing Equity Structures for Early Startup Employees Tweet Recently someone asked me for advice on how much equity they should give to their early employees. The numbers look quite similar to what is provided by Venture Hacks. Home About Contact My thoughts & lessons learned on startups, entrepreneurship, marketing and other stuff.

Equity 41

Equity Employee Startup Vesting 41

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 10, 2010

I guess it may be impractical for Twitter to acquire Seesmic given it has raised considerable amounts of venture capital (reportedly $12 million) but the broader point for me is that I always believed Twitter should control the client versions of its product. So the ad appears wherever content is consumed.

Acquisition 287

Acquisition Developer Management Advertising 287

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 31, 2010

It’s a shame because the ability to nail these presentations at key conferences can be once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to influence journalists, business partners, potential employees, customers and VCs. So I thought I’d write a piece on how to not suck when you give a presentation. It’s how I did.

Audience 362

Audience Venture Capital Community Programming 362

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

JULY 24, 2012

Pin It Listen to this episode if you want to learn what a VC investor thinks about “Internet scale” and how you can usually simplify your idea by charging a fair price for your product. No, it’s best thought of as CRM for families, individuals, and the businesses and organizations they interact with most.

Silicon Valley 204

Silicon Valley Software Review Internet Technical Review 204

reidhoffman.org

NOVEMBER 12, 2013

It has many stylistic errors — and a few substantive ones, too — that I would now change having learned more, but I realized that it still provides useful insights for entrepreneurs and startup participants outside of the Greylock network, particularly across three areas of interest: how entrepreneurs should approach the pitch process.

Entrepreneur 111

Entrepreneur Revenue Viral Networking 111

Rob Go

DECEMBER 21, 2016

I started out writing about a couple things I’ve been observing that I think will end up coming to greater fruition in 2017. Content could be distributed from anywhere to hundreds of millions of people nearly instantaneously, which is incredibly powerful. We also saw the wave of clickbait and trashy content fill our feeds.

Distribution 28

Distribution Curation Valuation Media 28

Entrepreneurs-Journey.com by Yaro Starak

JUNE 14, 2011

It’s an emotion most of us feel for different things – but that can be deadly and dangerous for an entrepreneur to feel about business. Because change is constant in a business environment. For this very column I’m writing for Yaro’s blog, I have a plan and outline of topics to cover.

Entrepreneur 90

Entrepreneur Non-Compete Internet Dilution 90

maplebutter.com

JANUARY 8, 2013

Because I know how important quality advice can be. How to stay lean and iterate quickly while you’re building a two sided marketplace, especially when “network effect” and “critical mass” are the two main focuses? It’s called the bowling pin strategy – it’s how Foursquare did it, Yelp, Craigslist, etc.

Technical Review 44

Technical Review Startup Cofounder Software Review 44

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 1, 2011

Mike Yavonditte is the founder of the “super hot&# Hashable , a startup out of NYC that has been described as a “ Mint.com for Social Capital ” Mike sold his previous company, Quigo , to Aol for $340 Million. I appreciate the write-up and your continued support of this blog. Thank you, John. He decided to join.

Semantic 302

Semantic Acquisition Valuation Angel Investor 302

Seeing Both Sides

JANUARY 2, 2011

But the gap between product success and business success is a large one. There's an old saying in the venture capital business: "Fund great companies, not great products or great features." Will they build sustainable business models? Millions of others are discovering these apps - and others like them.

Curation 34

Curation Business Model New York Venture Capital 34

www.paulgraham.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

Googles plan, for example, was simply to create a search site thatdidnt suck. No doubt there are great technicaltricks within Google, but the overall plan was straightforward.And while they probably have bigger ambitions now, this alone bringsthem a billion dollars a year. [1] That shows how much a mere idea is worth.

Startup 105

Startup Cofounder Software Stock 105

news.ycombinator.com

SEPTEMBER 16, 2011

Go ahead,” Ford commanded, “and stay on the job until you succeed no matter how much time is required.” -- drostan 215 days ago | link. However you get to a good product is how you need to get to a good product. Think about that, people wont even steal your ideas if you give them the plans. Ford said, “Produce it anyway.” “But,”

Stealth 41

Stealth Technical Review Startup Software Review 41

Bryce Dot VC

MARCH 13, 2013

Stepping off the plane at LAX last week, I had no idea how relevant that context was for the week I was about to experience. Similar to NYC, LA’s high rent neighborhoods tend to attract the capital and well funded startups. Like most who visit LA, I was drawn to the beach and chose to stay in Santa Monica.

Los Angeles 53

Los Angeles Cofounder Community SEO 53